A sharp polarization emerged between Western liberal democracies and the rest of the world as the war in Ukraine intensified. 

Alliance for Democracies surveyed people across Europe and concluded that 55% supported severing economic ties with Russia given the developments in the Ukraine war. The opinions in Asia were opposite to that where the majority was against such actions. In Latin America, the opinions were split with no clear majority.

Views on Russia have been negative throughout Europe and Western liberal states mostly. Positive views extended through China, Indonesia, Egypt, Vietnam, Morocco, Malaysia, Algeria, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. 

The annual Democracy Perception Index conducted in the period post-Ukraine war covered 53 highly populated countries in Asia, Latin America, the US, and Europe. A total of 31 countries favored cutting ties with Russia. Two-thirds of these, 20 countries, were located in Europe.

The majority in a total of 20 countries thought economic ties with Russia should bepreserved. These included Greece, Kenya, Turkey, China, “Israel”, Egypt, Nigeria, Indonesia, Hungary, Mexico, Philippines, South Africa, Vietnam, Algeria, Thailand, Morocco, Malaysia, Peru, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. Colombians for example were evenly split in this matter.

It is evident that the public opinion in the collective-West has been united regarding dealing with Russia. However, it is evident that countries across the world are mostly not liberal states, leaving the question of the public opinion of the world in relation to Russia open for interpretation.

It is worth noting that earlier this month, US Congressman Seth Moulton stated that the US is indeed leading a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine. 

“Well, of course, it's a proxy war in a sense that, you know, Ukraine is doing the fighting, we're providing all the munitions and much more technology and other things. And in so many ways, this is a battle between Russia and the West, the West largely represented and led by us,” Moulton said. 

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Furthermore, the results of an opinion poll conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center showed an increase in the percentage of Russian citizens supporting the special military operation in Ukraine, from 65% to 73%.

According to the most recent poll, which was conducted on March 20, 73% of the polling sample supported the decision of the military operation, while 14% were against it. The poll that was conducted on February 27 showed that 65% of respondents supported the operation, while 17% did not.